Who are Link Ethiopia?

We are a charity working through schools and individuals to support education in Ethiopia.

We work in four main areas:

  • School Linking – Linking Schools in Ethiopia and the UK to develop the benefits of global learning through exchange of work, ideas and teaching visits.
  • Projects – Developing the infrastructure of education in Ethiopia through enhancing both physical and human capital
  • Child Sponsorship – Providing support to individual pupils to support them through school.
  • Volunteering – Organising volunteering experiences assisting in schools.

This is all in order to increase access to, and the quality of, education in Ethiopia. To find out more go to our main website (http://linkethiopia.org)

 
How ‘Gifts For Ethiopia’ Works

All the gifts on this website are needed. We work with our partner schools in Ethiopia to establish what their needs are and we always ensure that our resourcing projects provide the most benefit for the whole community. Although we supply the money and guidance, generally, all the materials used in our schools are locally sourced and big projects such as classrooms and toilet blocks are constructed by the local community; in this way we ensure that the community have a stake in the project and can contribute as equal partners.

We currently operate in schools in the Amhara and Oromia regions, directly supporting over 40,000 Ethiopian children. We are constantly expanding to find new partner schools, particularly in rural communities where there is often the greatest need and the greatest lack of resources. We attempt to spread our projects evenly throughout our partner schools, aiming for equal quality of development in more prosperous urban areas and poorer rural areas. Every time a school joins our network, we visit them to ascertain their needs and discuss future joint-projects to overcome any obstacles to satisfying the needs of their communities for quality education.

Our team in Ethiopia keep in regular contact with all our schools and measure the progress and success of projects so that we can adapt to changing needs and circumstances. When you buy a gift, such as new furniture or clean running water, it will be allocated to one of our partner schools who needs it most.

Where your money goes

Link Ethiopia is a small organisation. In the U.K we have only three full-time paid member of staffs and two part-time staff which means we can avoid hefty administrative costs of many larger organisations to ensure that as much of your money as possible reaches the people it is intended to help. On average the costs of a typical project (e.g. classroom) are broken down as follows:

84% Labour and materials – this is the core cost of the project and pays for labourers, construction materials, resources, equipment and training.
10% Monitoring and management – this is the cost for our Ethiopian and UK team to manage each project, necessary to ensure the success of quality, sustainable development. We ensure that the money we give is used most effectively.
6% Contingency fund – this is an important element of a budget, particularly for projects in Ethiopia. This allows for periodic price fluctuation of local materials. At the end of the project any money remaining will be put towards another project either at this school or a school nearby.

How Buying Our Merchandise Helps

All profits from our Merchandise go towards supporting our work in Ethiopia. We endeavour at all times to keep overheads at a minimum whilst providing as much support as possible to our team in Ethiopia.

At Link Ethiopia, we believe in sustainable co-managed projects that will benefit the most people for the longest amount of time. Thus your money may pay for:

  • Raw materials, labour and supplies
  • Training on the use of facilities such as libraries and computers
  • Ongoing support for our team in Ethiopia
  • Visits to monitor the impact and success of a project
  • Maintenance of equipment such as taps or cleaning toilets

Thank you from us, and on behalf from the children of Ethiopia, for supporting education in Ethiopia.